Ipswich must seal a deal for 6ft 2 Preston North End centre-forward Jayden Stockley this summer. 

What's the talk?

According to the Lancashire Post, Ipswich are one of the clubs interested in signing 6ft 2 Stockley from Preston North End. Charlton and Rotherham are also keen on the attacker, with him having been on loan to the former last season, and Portsmouth have been given permission to discuss personal terms this week.

The Lancashire Post had previously reported that Stockley's preference was to join Charlton on a permanent basis at the end of the season. Portsmouth, however, are now leading the race for his signature and Ipswich are looking to get involved in the chase.

Former Charlton boss Lee Bowyer lauded Stockley upon his arrival at The Valley on loan in January. He told Charlton's official website:

"There was a lot of interest in him, he's a good striker and normally in these transfer windows good strikers don't become available.

"I've got a good relationship with Peter Ridsdale at Preston and I have to thank him for his help and obviously the manager and their owner. He's a Championship striker and with their help and a lot of our persistence, we were able to fend off interest from other clubs.

"We know what problems he caused us last season, so I'm delighted to have him here. With his experience, his goals, he is definitely going to add to us."

Cook needs him

Paul Cook is desperately lacking in quality options at the top end of the pitch and he needs a player like Stockley to bolster his squad this summer.

James Norwood ended the season as Ipswich's top goalscorer in League One with a paltry nine strikes and was one of only two players with more than four league goals for the club. Gwion Edwards' tally of six placed him second on the list, emphasising the need for Ipswich to dip into the market to add more goals to their side ahead of next season.

Stockley could be the perfect man to bring in as he has proven that he has the quality to score goals at an impressive rate at League One level.

He picked up eight goals in the second half of the campaign for Charlton, one fewer than Norwood managed all season, and vastly outperformed the Ipswich man in terms of his all-around game. Stockley averaged an eye-catching WhoScored rating of 7.41 for Charlton, whilst Norwood's score of 6.68 appears unimpressive in comparison.

The £5.1k-per-week ace has also been a goal machine in the EFL prior to his spell with Charlton. He scored an impressive 35 goals in two League Two seasons with Exeter, showing that he has the quality to score goals on a consistent basis in the EFL, which could solve Cook's goalscoring problems and add the attacking flair he is lacking at the moment.

Ipswich must do all they can to convince Stockley to make a move to their club.

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